KZN is Mopping up There’s just bleeding no stopping the mess Camille PAGE 2 PAGE 3 PAGE 10 THURSDAY, JULY 15, 2021 R9,20 (incl vat) More SANDF personnel seen arriving in Pietermaritzburg on The Alan Paton Drive yesterday. PHOTO: NASH NARRANDES WitnessWitness Substantial losses to businesses paint a gloomy future ‘My father’s CLIVE NDOU have been left devastated by the looting. We While the situation remained gloomy, Zika- would today finalise a plan on how the shorta- “The fact of the matter is that we don’t witnessed the massive damage to property. lala said the provincial government was en- ges could be mitigated. While those who have have any areas which are preserved for a par- people are The KwaZulu-Natal economy has suffered Some of the looting happened whilst we were couraged by the work being done by law en- been looting businesses and vandalising prop- ticular race group. What we have are areas for damage worth around R3 billion since the on- there,” he said. forcement agencies to stop the looting and erty have claimed that they were engaged in all South Africans,” he said. going riots started on Friday. In Cato Ridge Zikalala came face to face with vandalism. a protest against the imprisonment of former Zikalala’s update on the provincial govern- committing This is according to KZN Premier Sihle Zika- the looters while they were busy stealing from “The situation would have been much worse president Jacob Zuma, Zikalala labelled the ment’s response to the looting and vandalism lala, who revealed that Pietermaritzburg and the Value Logistics warehouse. had it not been for the law enforcement agen- looters as “criminals”. happened a few hours after the Defence and eThekwini were the worst hit areas in the prov- “Some were arrested while we were there. cies,” he said. “These criminal activities can’t be conduct- Military Veterans minister, Nosiviwe Mapisa- suicide,’ says ince. What took us aback was the fact that police Apart from preventing some of the looting ed in the name of our former president,” Zikala- Nqakula, announced that the number of South Speaking during a virtual media briefing, the and municipal workers were also involved in from happening, the premier said the law en- la said. African National Defence Force (SANDF) premier said the looting and vandalism contin- the looting,” he said. forcement agencies have been able to secure Also of major concern to the provincial gov- members deployed to deal with the looting Zulu King ued in parts of the province yesterday, putting On Tuesday, the number of people who died the national key points and prevent the de- ernment, the premier said, were attempts by in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng had been in- thousands of jobs at risk. due to the stampedes caused by the looting struction to key infrastructure such as substa- certain communities in the province to use the creased from 2 500 to 25 000. Zikalala, who led a provincial government stood at 26. tions and water supply infrastructure. riots to harass black people in general. Maphisa-Nqakula, alongside Police Minister, CLIVE NDOU delegation on a tour of some of the affected However, Zikalala, who indicated that the The looting of businesses in KZN has now Some communities, he said, have been set- Bheki Cele, are scheduled to visit KZN today areas in the province, said the looting had latest statistics were being compiled, yester- created a shortage of food, medicines and fuel ting up roadblocks in an attempt to prevent to oversee the law enforcement plans to crack “My father’s people are committing suicide”. caused substantial losses to businesses. day said the number of fatalities has since in- in the province. black people from entering their neighbour- down on the unrest in the province. This is how the Zulu monarch, King Misuzulu kaZwe- “We visited a number of businesses that creased. The provincial government, Zikalala said, hoods. • [email protected] lithini, described the ongoing looting and vandalism by a section of the Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal population claiming to be fighting for the release of former presi- dent Jacob Zuma. Addressing the Zulu nation yesterday, King Misuzulu Government said it was the poor who would suffer the most from the current destruction of the economy. “Those who will suffer the most from a weakened working on economy are the poor, the vulnerable and the strug- gling. When food cannot be delivered because trucks Ray of hope as and warehouses are burned, our people will go hungry,” he said. stabilising The looting, which has since spread to the Gauteng province, started in KZN on Friday. “What is currently happening paints a bad picture of economy the Zulu nation. I never imagined that my father’s peo- ple would be involved in the burning of their own coun- try,” King Misuzulu said. SIYAMTANDA CAPA The conduct of the looters, the Zulu King said, has tarnished the image of the entire Zulu nation. More than 1 000 people have been arrested for troops arrive “It creates a picture of people who have lost their crimes related to the unrest in KwaZulu-Natal. dignity. Acting minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo “It has brought shame to all of us,” he said. Ntshavheni revealed the figure during a press The party is over for looters, the army is here, say residents King Misuzulu, who urged the looters to stop their briefing yesterday. Ntshaveni said there had been activities, also zoned in on the current tensions be- 156 incidents in KwaZulu-Natal and that 464 cas- tween some Zulu and Indian communities as a result of es had been opened. In Gauteng 686 people had CLIVE NDOU Nonhlanhla Buthelezi was of the view that to bring the situation under control. rubber bullets and teargas to disperse the the current unrest. been arrested. Ntshaveni said the government the army should have arrived much earlier. “Even though I don’t believe that the num- crowd. It’s different when it comes to the army The Indians and Zulu communities, he said, have was in talks with the business sector to stabilise After days of being gripped with despair, the “Too late, what were they waiting for?” she ber of the SA National Defence Force mem- because SANDF members only use live am- lived side by side peacefully for decades. “Let’s not do the situation and rebuild the economy. arrival of army has lifted the hopes of the Mid- said. However, Delise Rose, another local resi- bers who have been deployed is enough, the munition. That scares the looters,” he said. anything that will change that,” he said. “We have got confidence that the situation lands community residents. dent, said the arrival of the army would put situation would have been far worse had the Despite the presence of the army not yet King Misuzulu addressed the Zulu nation amid con- would be handled quickly and the threat on in- Members of the SA National Defence Force the looters plans in disarray. army not been brought in,” he said. being felt across the province, Burger said the cerns that the current violent protests would destroy vestment would be minimised,” said Ntshavheni. (SANDF), some of whom arrived by a military “We still need all the help we can get... this This as the police battle to contain the riots situation was likely to improve in the coming the economy and deepen poverty in the country. The minister also addressed threats to food se- aircraft which landed at the local Oribi Air- looting is never over yet, we still have shops due to a shortage of manpower. days. “Yes, the numbers currently on the “I fully understand the desperation born of poverty curity, medicine and fuel in KZN. She said the port yesterday, were patrolling the streets. they haven’t looted yet ... they (looters) are On Tuesday, the Minister of Defence and ground are not enough, but there are plans and unemployment which lures people, especially our government would not allow food and essential “The party is over for the looters, the army still enjoying their overnight riches, planning Military Veterans Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, in the pipelines to beef up the numbers. youth, to join this chaos. But I must appeal to all of us supplies to run out. is here,” local resident Mthokozisi Ntshan- the next move,” she said. announced that 2 500 SANDF members have “These are all encouraging signs,” he said. to take a step back and consider the damage being “I must indicate that energy minister (Gwede gase, wrote on his Facebook page. Despite criticisms that the government is been deployed to KZN and Gauteng as part Phoenix and Verulam are two areas where done through our own actions,” he said. Mantashe) has issued a ministerial directive to At the nearby Cato Ridge, where looters in- not doing enough to quell the current looting, of government’s efforts to quell the violence. residents have been begging for soldiers to According to the KZN business community, the cost stop the sale of fuel to people with portable con- vaded the Value Warehouse Logistics yester- a security expert is of the view that progress While the role of SANDF members was to back up the few police patrols in the area. of the looting and vandalism is hovering around R16 tainers to avoid the abuse of fuel. day, the largest warehouse in the province, the is being made in stopping the looters. provide police confronting the looters with Yesterday, social media showed several billion just in eThekwini. “We are working with the national consumer army arrested several of the rioters who had Johan Burger, a senior researcher at the In- cover, Burger said the army’s presence was of clips of militias taking the law into their own Despite President Cyril Ramaphosa having deployed group council to make sure that there is food se- removed goods from the facility.